Oktoberfest events around Northeast Florida

Kerry Speckman shares her unique perspective and observations on people, places and events on the First Coast and beyond. She's also the 2012 winner of Jacksonville Dancing With the Stars, so she's got that going for her.

Here's an interesting Fakt: Oktoberfest — the real one, in Munich, Bavaria, Germany — actually starts in September and runs until the first weekend in October.

So for all intents and purposes the multi-week event takes place almost equally in September as it does in October.

That's probably why the Germans don't even call it "Oktoberfest." Rather, they refer to it as "die Wiesn," a colloquialism for "Theresienwiese," the fairgrounds at which it's held.

But we Americans have no problem changing a centuries-old tradition to better suit our own needs, which explains these local Oktoberfest events, which all take place in the month of October.